Dusty's Writing

As everyone knows, Dusty's greatest passion was his writing. Family members recall gatherings, large and small, that were punctuated with the stacatto sounds of Dusty's fingers as they bruised his laptop keys. We didn't dare ask what he was writing; we'd be met with a stare that could cut glass.

To those who are offended by "adult" language or by sexual innuendo, Dusty's writing isn't for you, so you may as well surf the net for Jennifer Anniston gossip. For the rest, I'm going to start attaching Dusty's stories, paragraphs, journal entries and the like. Language and content are pure Dusty.

Dusty's journaling was unlike anything I've seen. He would be writing about his life and then - in the middle of it - he'd write a fragment of a short story. The "fragment" could be several pages long or it might be just a paragraph or so. These fragments were usually standalone, meaning that he didn't return to that train of thought in subsequent journal entries. It sometimes angered me to see him to do this because so many of the fragments held the promise of an intriguing story.

There are pieces I wish I'd seen when he was living. We would have talked about what he was writing and discussed ways to extend the fragments into fully realized stories. When we couldn't talk about anything else, we could always discuss writing, because it was a passion for both of us; the fruit not falling from the tree. The biggest difference, however, is that Dusty was a far more talented writer than I could ever hope to be.

To read a piece, simply click on the title and it will open as a PDF file. There are many more yet to be put on this site and I promise to get to them. I hope you enjoy his writing!

Piece Number One - "At the Bottom"This short story still puzzles me. Is it finished? You be the judge.

Piece Number Two - "No More Four Letter Words"
This short story is Tom's favorite. It draws upon Dusty's experience working at a golf course, mowing.

Piece Number Three - "Dear Abby"
This is a really short piece from Christmas of 2004. As usual, Dusty's bank balance was in the single digits, so he gave actual purchased gifts to very few people. To the rest, he wrote little notes. The first one was written to our granddaughter, Abby. Dusty couldn't resist writing a "Dear Abby" letter, in spite of the fact that she was only 2 1/2 at the time. It made no difference to Dusty; a "Dear Abby" letter would be written and it would be given.

Piece Number Four - "Dear Andy"This was written to Dusty's brother, Andy, as his Christmas gift for 2004. It needs no further explanation.